


You Don't Know What You've Got Until It's Gone

by Lunatasha



Category: Bleach
Genre: F/M, Feelings Realization, Happy Ending, brief mentions of one-sided ichihime, hinted ichiruki, the title makes it sound way sadder than it actually is
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-03
Updated: 2020-05-03
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:27:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23975245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lunatasha/pseuds/Lunatasha
Summary: It wasn't that she didn't expect it, after all it was only the third week of her degree, of course there was going to be an adjustment period. And she didn't regret her decision either, she chose this particular university even though it was far away because it was one of the best for her course. What did take her by surprise though was how much she missed a certain individual.
Relationships: Inoue Orihime/Ishida Uryuu
Comments: 1
Kudos: 8





	You Don't Know What You've Got Until It's Gone

**Author's Note:**

> There's a ton of other projects (both writing and non-writing) that I should be working on so what do I do? Start a new one! This was supposed to be just a oneshot but might end up being the first of a series of oneshots, I could not stop writing this :') I hope you like it!

“You don't know what you've got until it's gone” wasn't a phrase Orihime had thought much about in the past. Honestly she sort of just put it down as one of those cliché phrases that people use when they don't really know what else to say. Something to say to someone who's broken up with their partner and ended up regretting it. Thankfully that wasn't actually the case in her situation. Despite her nerves and anxieties about it she ended up going to a university about four hours away from her home town and was now finding herself missing her friends desperately.

  
It wasn't that she didn't expect it, after all it was only the third week of her degree, of course there was going to be an adjustment period. And she didn't regret her decision either, she chose this particular university even though it was far away because it was one of the best for her course. What did take her by surprise though was how much she missed a certain individual.

  
Don't get her wrong, she loved and missed all of her friends. She missed Tatsuki, how they could always have fun whatever they did and how she could talk to her about anything. They were messaging each other practically every day but it didn't really feel the same. She missed Sado and their conversations about food, music, animals, and whatever else they felt like. She was very thankful that her moving away did not stop their tradition of sending each other photos of cute animals they found in their daily life. (Her personal favourite was the photo of the very fluffy cat in Sado's neighbourhood rubbing against his leg and looking up with big eyes at the camera.) She missed Yui, her partner in crime at the bakery she used to work at, missed messing around with her when they didn't have any customers for five minutes, missed experimenting with recipes and cake decorating when they had particularly slow days. She of course missed Ichigo and Rukia, but that was a little different, with both of them living in Soul Society now. It was natural that they would only see each other every few months or so, Orihime was used to it, didn't feel their absence quite as much as she did the others. She even missed her friends who she was perhaps not as close to, Michiru, Ryo, Keigo, Mizuiro, hell even Chizuru.

  
But Uryu. She missed him so much more than she expected. She missed their little get-togethers, usually just in a classroom or on the school roof more often than not, but occasionally in a local cafe when the weather was nice and neither of them had any deadlines or other responsibilities pulling them away. Recently Uryu had become another friend she felt like she could tell anything, in fact he was the first one Orihime told about considering applying to further away universities, knowing full well he'd understand. Not that the others didn't but it felt like they all just expected her to stay close, whereas Uryu never seemed to assume what she would do, always waiting instead to see her choices and then taking them in stride. Speaking of she also missed his gentle encouragement when it came to her making decisions. He listened patiently when she, quite frankly, ranted for ages about how she knew she wanted to get a degree, but was stuck on which course to do. He paid attention the entire time even when she went on for hours about whether to go for teaching, psychology or medicine.

  
Uryu never tried to sway her one way or another, just offered points or suggestions that she may not have considered before. He ended up taking medicine, he could've tried to get her to join him, he never explicitly said it but it was obvious he was somewhat nervous about university, especially the social aspect, but instead calmly waited for her to decide on her own. Orihime ended up deciding against medicine, surprising even herself if she's honest, after all she had the grades for it, she knew she had the drive for it. But she also knew it would end up hurting her in the end. There would inevitably be patients that she couldn't help with medical interventions, but potentially could with her powers. But everything in hospitals was so well documented, she couldn't just quite literally magically fix the problem when no one was looking, it would raise too many questions. Being stuck in a situation where she can't help even though she'd be capable of doing so would drive her up the wall eventually.

  
But she still wanted to help people in some way or another. There was a part of her even now that was still kind of stuck between psychology and teaching but she chose psychology in the end after talking it through with Uryu. He had pointed out that it was much easier to go from a psychology degree into teaching than it was from a teaching degree into psychology. Doing a psychology degree kept her options way more open, which was a major selling point for Orihime. There was too many different things she wanted to do, perhaps too much ambition but Uryu never saw it that way. Despite being probably the most sensible person she knew he would always encourage her to aim for what she wanted, always seemed to believe she could do anything she wanted to if she put her mind to it. All he would do is suggest what he thought was the best way about doing it. Always supporting her from the sidelines but letting her take the lead.

  
She really missed talking to him face to face. He was another friend she was pretty much messaging everyday but she missed seeing his small smiles whenever she was excited about something, missed how flushed and embarrassed he got if she ever complimented him or thanked him for something. She wanted to cry when she thought back to when she actually applied to the different universities. Even though Orihime was happy with her decision to study psychology and she knew that this particular university was incredibly high ranked for their psychology course she was still scared. Scared to move away, scared to move on. She originally planned to ask Tatsuki to be there with her when she applied for moral support but she ended up being out of town for a competition and Orihime was running out of time to apply. So despite the fact that she felt silly asking Uryu to be there when she applied she asked anyway, knowing he wouldn't judge her for it. She was jittery about the whole thing, literally shaking with nerves about whether it was the right thing to do. She knew it was, but it felt like such a big step. Uryu immediately noticed the shaking, made her some tea and put a hand on her upper back, reassuring her that she knew what was best for herself. And when that didn't calm her, he held her hand. He was clearly embarrassed about it but he did it anyway, he knew that she was a very physical contact sort of person. So he held her hand throughout the entire application process, double checking that she had put in all the information correctly as she went through it. Allowed her to practically collapse into his arms when it was all done, feeling overwhelmed.

  
“You don't know what you've got until it's gone” she whispered into her dorm room, wiping a stray tear away. When had Uryu become her rock? She had become so busy sorting everything out for the next stage of her life that she hadn't even noticed. She wondered if he felt similarly. He had explained everything about why he ended up going into medicine, even though a couple of years ago it was the last thing he wanted. Explained everything about his relationship with his father, how they were trying to become a part of each other's lives now. Was she his rock too? She hoped so. She wanted to be. Orihime sighed as she wiped away a few more tears. It was silly to be crying over this really, she hadn't lost him, he wasn't gone. They were literally messaging each other two hours ago about the lectures they each had earlier today.

  
But it was only now that she was physically separated from him that she realised how much she wanted to be near him, how much she wanted him to be a constant in her life. It was hitting her, all at once. How much she wanted to always be with him, how she wanted him to feel safe with her like how she feels safe with him, how she wants him to make more physical contact with her. He never refused her, allowed her to lean on him when they talked sometimes, reciprocated the hugs she gave him, but he never initiated it himself. Orihime felt her stomach twist as she realised how much she wanted him to. Wanted him to hug her, wanted him to hold her hand more, wanted him to kiss her. Perhaps it was a bit egotistical of her but there was a part of her that suspected he wanted the same. But he's so shy though, so guarded, would he ever be the one to initiate that sort of thing? Was it mean to expect him to? That's what is supposed to happen, that's what's in all the books, all the movies, the guy approaches the girl. But Uryu had never seemed all that confident when dealing with people, especially her. He always got so flustered, struggled to look her in the eyes sometimes. And besides Uryu himself has told her countless times that she should trust herself more, that she should go for what she wants. Orihime smiled to herself as she wondered if Uryu ever thought that would end up applying to him.

  
But just because he is what she wants doesn't mean she can just immediately go for it. She wants to test the waters so to speak, maybe hold his hand when they next walked with each other or something like that, she wanted to be more sure of herself that he was interested too. Which was unfortunately a lot harder now that they're apart. Orihime's stomach dropped as she bit her lip, worrying suddenly. All of her friends had planned to meet up in a month, Uryu included as they thankfully both had a study week that week. That felt like ages away, what if he met someone in the meantime? Anxiety poked at her from the insides. She didn't want to do this sort of thing over the phone, she wanted to wait and see him in person, try and read his expressions, see if he seemed truly interested. But god, she did not want to lose her chance. She's already been through that once before, and it hurt like hell. And Uryu was maybe even more perfect than that one. They were already close, already knew so much about each other, she knew they'd be wonderfully compatible. She had already thought about it, weeks and months ago now. Moments here and there, before she left, where she thought about it, thought about what it would be like to be Uryu's girlfriend. But she had pushed them down, worried that she was being awful, worried that maybe some part of her just saw him as a decent backup to her failed first love. She didn't want to face that part of herself, didn't want to examine whether she definitely liked him or whether that terrible part of herself had figured he would do, that he was good enough. So she pushed the thoughts down, tried to ignore them.

  
Maybe it was just as well she moved away Orihime thought. She didn't realise how much she liked him. Didn't realise it would ache, being away from him. It was bittersweet she thought. Naturally she was sad that she couldn't see him right now, but being overwhelmed with how much she thought of him, how much she missed him, how much she wanted him? It was reassuring to get confirmation, to know that yes, she did truly like him. Which is more reason that she cannot let this one get away, not when he might actually like her back. Orihime dug out her phone from under her pillow, brought up Uryu's name on the screen. She was nervous, but resolute. He told her to go after what she wanted after all.

  
_**Orihime (23:47):** Can I ask you a favour?_

  
_**Uryu (23:51):** Sure?_

  
Orihime took a deep breath, steeling herself, before responding.

  
_**Orihime (23:53):** Can you not date anyone while you're at uni? Just until we meet up again in October_

  
_**Uryu (23:57):** That's an unusual request_

  
_**Uryu (23:58):** I don't think there's much danger of me dating someone right now though so I wouldn't worry about it_

  
_**Uryu (23:58):** Wait you're not trying to set me up with someone are you?_

  
_**Orihime (23:59):** Definitely not_

  
_**Orihime (23:59):** Just yeah, please don't date anyone until we meet up again_

  
_**Uryu (00:02):** I promise I won't_

  
_**Orihime (00:03):** Thank you_

  
Orihime let out a big sigh and collapsed on the bed. Scary, but a good move she thinks. It might've been a little obvious, but Uryu had gone along with it which is a good sign. She grinned to herself, looking back on the messages with bright red cheeks. She didn't want to do it over the phone, wanted to do it in person but she needed to know whether he was available to her. It was painfully obvious what she was going for reading the messages over again but she found herself not caring. He had agreed! That had to mean something. She couldn't stop grinning, feeling giddy with excitement.

  
She couldn't wait to see him in a month.


End file.
